North Dakota is predominantly a region of prairie and plains, although the American elm, green ash, box elder, and cottonwood grow there. Cranberries, juneberries, and wild grapes are also common. Indian, blue, grama, and buffalo grasses grow on the plains; the wild prairie rose is the state flower. The western prairie fringed orchid was the only plant species classified as threatened in 2003; no plant species were listed as endangered that year by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Once on the verge of extinction, the white-tailed and mule deers and pronghorn antelope have been restored. The elk and grizzly bear, both common until about 1880, had disappeared by 1900; bighorn sheep, reintroduced in 1956, are beginning to flourish. North Dakota claims more wild ducks than any other state except Alaska, and it has the largest sharptailed grouse population in the United States. Seven animal species were listed as threatened or endangered in North Dakota in 2003, including the bald eagle, Eskimo curlew, pallid sturgeon, least tern, and whooping crane.